Comic Book Heroes - Take a Seat

Comic Book Heroes- Take a Seat EPRecord Label: None
Release Date: August 2008

Who?

The members of Comic Book Heroes are young enough to still actually read comics. Vocalist-guitarist Ned Goldman, bassist Steve Kowalski, guitarist Steve "Koz" Kosciusko and drummer Collin MacGregor are all Reading, PA high school juniors. The band came together, however, when the boys were at an even more tender age of 11. Take a Seat is the band's sophomore EP, following their 2006, self-titled release. The band has already been featured on "Jack's Big Music Show," a 2008 Emmy-nominated show on Noggin (Nickelodeon).

How is it?

Take a Seat is surprisingly mature in some ways and typically immature in others. The band seems to be made of three parts: one-third Foo Fighters in their musical maturity, Goldman's raspy vocals and straightforward rock sound; one-third Jonas Brothers with their collective shaggy, brown hair; and one-third regular high school boys who need to attend a poetry class. The band's attempts to make each line of their songs rhyme are admirable, but wholly unnecessary. In fact, Comic Book Heroes seem to have sacrificed eloquence and a logical line of thought in order to find a word that rhymes with "eye."

The lyrical content on Take a Seat leaves much more to be desired, as well. There are many generalizations that point to themes like love, loss, and finding oneself, but there are no clues as to what or who makes the band feel this way. As always, the mind of a teenage boy remains a tragically beautiful and complex mystery...

I don't mean to be too hard on Comic Book Heroes; there is a lovely innocence to their lyrics. The lyrics for "Wide Open" are an example: "Tell me who you need me to be/ Cause I'm wide open." The song also brings back nostalgia of wanting to be around the person you "love" 24/7: ""I wanna hide away with you/And never come back again."

Goldman's voice really takes the listener by surprise, as well. If one were to listen to Take a Seat and not look at the album sleeve at the band's youthful, pinchable faces, you would think the band was composed of men in their late 20s. The musical cohesiveness and vocal arrangements that just screams solid rock n' roll shows that these boys have been performing together for years and have an unshakable idea of how they want to sound.

The band has me torn, with one end of their music exuding a shocking maturity absent from most high school bands. The other half, if you listen closely, can be found in the lyrical arrangements. The words are simple and forced to fit a certain rhyme scheme. The band, overall, have an organized, yet creative sound, which is much more difficult to learn than how to write good lyrics. As they get older, they will learn how to express their feelings and experiences on paper. Until then, Take a Seat is worth a listen.

wow, somebody else has actually heard of this band? never actually listened to their cd, but I've seen them at least a hundred times live (not voluntary, they play shows at my work at the time) ...overall I'm unimpressed though.